Van Lierde, Carfrae win Ironman crowns

Running down the leaders and bursting into the lead with less than 10 miles to go, Frederik Van Lierde won the 2013 Ironman World Championship.

In muggy but calm conditions, Van Lierde, 34, notched top 10 times for the swim and the bike, but had to work for his world championship title.

Van Lierde, the second Belgian to win the world championship, crossed the finish line at 8 hours, 12 minutes and 29 seconds. It’s the eighth fastest time in the 35 year history of the event, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and full 26.2-mile marathon.

The first Belgian was world champion was Luc Van Lierde in 1996. The two are not related, but are great friends.

“I tried to be smart and it worked out. After last year, I believed I could do it. I worked hard this year. This is amazing,” he said. “I don’t understand yet what this means to me. This is the best crowd you can imagine. Thank you so much, everybody.”

Joining Van Lierde on the men’s podium are Luke McKenzie, 32, of Australia, and Sebastian Kienle, 29, of Germany.

Mirinda Carfrae set a new course record for the women, finishing in 8:52:14. The previous record of 8:54:02 was set by Chrissie Wellington in 2009.

Carfrae, 32, of Australia, notched her first world championship in 2010 and lowered the women’s run record three years in row 2009-2011.

This year, she smashed her own record by nearly 3 minutes, recording a 2:50:39 and taking the it down from 2:53:32.

Carfrae’s run split was the third fastest of the day – overall. Only Bert Aernoets (2:44) and Ivan Rana (2:47) went faster